William Vingiano

Therapist Description:

Clinical Psychologist

Specialties: Trauma

Services Offered: Individual, psychedelic integration (individuals), trauma-focused psychotherapy

Sessions: Online & In person (Scarsdale, NY)

Biography

I was an English major in college, but after working as a psychiatric aide at Yale-New Haven Hospital, I became fascinated with psychotherapy and shifted my academic goals from literature to psychology. I attended Wesleyan University and New York University, where I obtained my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Over the years I have come to see that almost all psychological symptoms represent the legacy of a traumatic experience, or multiple traumatic experiences. I have worked in a variety of settings with various at risk populations, including urban youth, people afflicted with HIV/AIDS, first responders, and veterans. I have training in hypnosis, biofeedback, and EMDR. Early in my career I was very involved in research in neuropsychology (you can find my articles on PubMed). I have been living in Westchester County, NY for 25+ years and my wife and I raised our two (now adult) children here, My practice is in Scarsdale.

How I work with clients

As noted above, I believe that most psychological symptoms are due to overwhelming stressful experiences that remain unresolved over time. I have seen too many patients who have been on anti-depressants for five years or more, who have essentially dissociated from their past and are living in a state of emotional numbness. The reason for keeping them on medication is well-meaning – to prevent a relapse. But the effect is to disempower them, and they come to believe that they cannot be an effective agent in determining their own destiny. I believe that if you are having painful emotions, these emotions are real and connected to past experiences. Our goal is to find those connections and help you to process them, so there are no lingering effects of traumatic experiences. Learning from experience means to have the experience, process it, and come to a new understanding about the world and yourself. This is how we acquire wisdom. And “it is wisdom which seeks wisdom.”